Restaurant owner Shah Ahmed came up with a truly novel way to support Saving Faces after his Mum was diagnosed with cancer.

Each Monday in April 2012, visitors to his restaurant on Rayleigh High Street could join the competition to eat as many poppadoms as possible in 10 minutes! Entrants could have their choice of chutney or raita and half a pint of water to help the crispy snacks go down. Heats took place over four weeks. After a tense final showdown Richard Stephenson was crowned Poppadom Champion, with an epic score of 15 poppadoms in 10 minutes.

This unusual event grabbed the attention of local media, and the story appeared in the Echo. You can read the full article here. Pictured alongside Mr Ahmed are Saving Faces patient Connor Sargent with Mum, Samantha and Dad, Neil, who came along with mouth cancer patient Jaginder Singh Mann (not pictured) to show their support.

The following year, the competition really heated up. For the Man V Food Challenge entrants had to finish 5 spicy wraps of increasing heat levels in 30 minutes.

The Menu

Chicken tikka korma wrap

Sheek kebab sweet chilli wrap

Chicken tikka vindaloooo wrap

Sheek kebab Naga HOT wrap

'The Rayleigh Spicy' wrap

Shah and his family continue to actively support Saving Faces, including subscribing to our restaurant donation scheme. We are incredibly grateful for all their help.